On-line trading of prospective customer leads

Abstract

A system and method for providing an on-line trading environment of partial-disclosure informational leads are disclosed. The method includes presenting an on-line auction to a user. The on-line auction is for auctioning partial-disclosure informational leads to users. The method also includes receiving a bid request from the user for the partial-disclosure informational lead being auctioned in the on-line auction. Real-time information representing auction events can be transmitted by the system to the user, contemporaneous with the auction events occurring. The transmission of the real-time information is unevoked by the user.

1 . A method, with an information processing system, for providing an on-line trading environment of informational leads, the method comprising:
 presenting an on-line auction to a user, wherein the on-line auction presents to the user partial-disclosure information associated with an informational lead; and   receiving a bid request from the user for the informational lead based on the partial-disclosure information presented in the on-line auction, wherein the informational lead includes full disclosure information associated with a potential customer.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 associating the partial-disclosure information with a quality metric; and   presenting the quality metric to the user in association with the presenting of the partial-disclosure information.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the quality metric is based on a readiness of a buyer associated with the partial-disclosure information to make a purchase. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the partial disclosure informational presented to the user comprises a portion of lead identification information associated with at least one buyer, wherein the portion of lead identification information presented to the user prevents the user from circumventing the on-line auction to contact the at least one buyer. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting real-time information associated with the auction to a group of users subscribed to the auction, wherein the real-time information associated with the auction is transmitted contemporaneous with an auction event occurring, and wherein the transmission of the real-time information is unevoked by the group of users.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the auction event comprises at least one of:
 a bid being placed in the auction; and   a given period of time existing prior to the auction closing, and wherein
 the transmitted real-time information represents the auction event to the group of users. 
   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining if the received bid request is higher than a given threshold;   if the received bid request is higher than the given threshold, setting a user ID associated with the user as a current high bidder for the on-line auction; and   if the received bid request is lower than the given threshold, rejecting the received bid request.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining that a time interval associated with the on-line auction has expired; and   providing to a user who is a current high bidder after the on-line auction ends the full-disclosure information including identification of the potential customer, wherein the full-disclosure information comprises the partial-disclosure information.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the full disclosure information includes at least contact information associated with the potential customer. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying a list of on-line auctions to the user, wherein each on-line auction in the list of on-line auctions is associated with at least one partial-disclosure information being auctioned in the respective each on-line auction.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the displaying includes:
 displaying partial-disclosure information for each on-line auction in the list displayed to the user; and   displaying a quality metric associated with the displayed partial-disclosure information for each on-line auction, wherein the displayed quality metric indicating a quality of an informational lead associated with the displayed partial-disclosure information for each on-line auction in the list.   
     
     
         13 . A method, with an information processing system, for providing an on-line trading environment of informational leads associated with prospective customers, the method comprising:
 presenting an on-line auction to a user, wherein the on-line auction presents to the user partial-disclosure informational leads indicating a commercial interest of a prospective customer; and   receiving a bid request from the user on the basis of the partial-disclosure informational leads in the on-line auction, wherein the bid request represents an offer for purchasing full disclosure information associated with the partial-disclosure informational leads for identifying the prospective customer.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 associating the partial-disclosure informational leads with a quality metric that is provided to the user; and   presenting the quality metric to the user in association with the auctioning of the partial-disclosure informational leads.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the quality metric is based on a readiness of a buyer associated with the partial-disclosure informational lead to make a purchase. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 determining if the received bid request is higher than a given threshold;   if the received bid request is higher than the given threshold, setting a user ID associated with the user as a current high bidder for the auction;   if the received bid request is lower than the given threshold, rejecting the received bid request;   determining that a time interval associated with the auction has expired; and   providing to a user who is a current high bidder after the auction ends the full-disclosure information.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 transmitting real-time information associated with the on-line auction to a group of users subscribed to the on-line auction, wherein the real-time information associated with the on-line auction is transmitted contemporaneous with an on-line auction event occurring, and wherein the transmission of the real-time information is unevoked by the group of users.   
     
     
         18 . A system for providing an on-line trading environment of partial-disclosure informational leads, the system comprising:
 a memory;   an information processing system communicatively coupled to the memory, the information processing system comprising at least
 an on-line auction user interface for allowing a user to interact with a partial-disclosure informational lead auction; and 
 a user input receiver for receiving at least a bid request from the user for a partial-disclosure informational lead being auctioned in the on-line auction. 
   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the information processing system further comprises:
 an auction item analyzer for associating the partial-disclosure informational lead with a quality metric, wherein the quality metric is presented to the user in association with the auctioning of the partial-disclosure informational lead.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the partial disclosure informational lead comprises a portion of lead identification information associated with at least one buyer, wherein the portion of lead identification information prevents the user from circumventing the on-line auction to contact the at least one buyer. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the information processing system further comprises:
 a user input analyzer for determining if the received bid request is higher than a given threshold, wherein if the received bid request is higher than the given threshold, a user ID associated with the user is set as a current high bidder for the auction, and wherein if the received bid request is lower than the given threshold the received bid request is rejected;   an auction analyzer for determining that a time interval associated with the auction has expired; and   a transmitter for providing to a user who is a current high bidder after the auction ends a full-disclosure information associated with the partial-disclosure informational lead, wherein the full-disclosure information comprises at least contact information associated with a buyer to make a purchase.